My wife and I are planning to acquire a house in Long Stratton and have instructed a Long Stratton conveyancing practice. Within the last couple of days our solicitor has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with a view to exchanging next week. have this morning contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Long Stratton lawyer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?
If you are buying a property requiring a mortgage it is conventional for the purchasers' lawyers to also act for the mortgage company. In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme. Your solicitor should contact your bank and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own solicitors to act. You don't have to instruct a firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Long Stratton lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
The Long Stratton conveyancing lawyers that I recently instructed on my purchase in Long Stratton have without warning shut down. I only went with them because I had to have a solicitor on the conveyancing panel and my family Long Stratton lawyer was not. I paid them money in advance. What should be my next steps?
Assuming that you have an Estate Agent in the equation then let them know straight away so that they can let the sellers know that there may be a slight delay due to the problems encountered. Most sellers would be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You should appoint new lawyers that are on the conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money, it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new solicitors may be able to help.
What can a local search inform me about the property I am buying in Long Stratton?
Long Stratton conveyancing often commences with the ordering local authority searches directly from your local Authority or via a personal search organisations such as Searchflow The local search is essential in every Long Stratton conveyancing purchase; as long as you wish to avoid any nasty surprises after you move into your property. The search will supply information on, amongst other things, details on planning applications applicable to the property (whether granted or refused), building control history, any enforcement action, restrictions on permitted development, nearby road schemes, contaminated land and radon gas; in all a total of 13 subject areas.
Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold element on a property I put an offer in two weeks back in what was supposed to be a simple, chain free conveyancing. Long Stratton is the location of the property. What do you suggest?
Flying freeholds in Long Stratton are rare but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Long Stratton you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds diligently. Your bank may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Long Stratton may ascertain that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold property.
Am I right to be wary that 3rd parties that I am dealing with are recommending a nationwide conveyancing firm as opposed to a High Street Long Stratton conveyancing firm?
As is the case with lots of professional services, often recommendations from relatives can be most helpful. But there are many parties with a keen interest in a conveyancing matter; estate agents, financial adviser and mortgage companies may suggest conveyancers to choose. Sometimes these solicitors might be known to one of the organisations as one of the best in their field, but occasionally there is an underlying financial incentive behind the recommendation. You are at liberty to appoint your preferred conveyancer. Don't forget that most banks operate an approved list of conveyancers you must use for the lender related work in your house move.